What are good and bad habits? The difference between good habits and bad habits

Habits play a crucial role in a person’s life. The extent of success or well-being a person achieves is determined by their habits. A person’s social and mental behaviour is also shaped by their habits. Just as good habits bring progress into our lives, bad habits create obstacles in our path to advancement, and as a result, we gradually fall behind. Often, we don’t understand which habits are good and which are bad. In this article, we will learn in detail about the effects of good and bad habits, the differences between them, examples, and ways to cultivate good habits.

“Let’s start by understanding what a habit is.”

A habit is something we do regularly, and it becomes a part of our daily life. Although habits initially begin consciously, over time they transform into unconscious behaviours. For example, brushing your teeth after waking up, taking a shower every day, checking your mobile phone, and washing your hands before eating are all habits. In the process of building a better life, people develop two types of habits: good habits and bad habits. Now, we will learn about good habits and bad habits.

What are good habits?

Good habits are those small actions that, when performed consistently, bring about significant changes in life. For example:

1. Walking or exercising for thirty minutes every day.
2. Drinking a glass of lukewarm water after waking up in the morning.
3. Eating healthy food every day.
4. Setting daily goals.
5. Spending some time with family every day.
6. Showing respect to others or expressing gratitude.
7. Going to bed and waking up at a fixed time.
These tasks are not very difficult to do. These actions have a positive impact on our mental, physical, social, and professional lives. These small habits eventually lead to great success.

What are bad habits?

The biggest bad habit is taking the easy way out. It pays for momentary comfort but ultimately leads to long-term harm. This negatively impacts our lives, harming our health, relationships, progress, work, finances, and much more. For example:

1. Going to bed late at night (not getting enough sleep).
2. Eating fast food (which is harmful to the body).
3. Lying (which destroys respect).
4. Procrastinating or putting off work until later.
5. Getting angry or being unable to control anger.
6. Wasting time by using mobile phones excessively.
7. Smoking or using drugs (which wastes both money and time).
These bad habits are like false friends. Initially, they bring us comfort, but eventually, they weaken us.

The Difference Between Good and Bad Habits

A good habit helps improve a person’s quality of life, keeps the body healthy, and brings a sense of calm and stability to the mind. Good habits lead to easier success in any endeavour. They save time, improve relationships, bring success in life, increase self-confidence, and establish peace and discipline. As a result, long-term progress is achieved. On the other hand, bad habits produce the exact opposite results. They negatively impact a person’s life, weaken health, and increase mental instability and anxiety. They lead to wasted time due to being led astray. Lying or engaging in harmful activities damages relationships. The likelihood of failure in life increases, self-confidence diminishes, peace and discipline are disrupted, and long-term harm is incurred.

Developing a good habit takes considerable time and effort, but the end result is always rewarding. Starting regular exercise might be difficult at first, but over time it keeps our body and mind healthy and provides us with sustained energy.

Conversely, starting a bad habit is very easy and comfortable, but the consequences are inevitably negative. For example, fast food tastes very good, but later it harms our body, reduces energy, and makes us unhealthy.

Therefore, we can say that actions that bring joy to our future life are good habits, and actions that cause suffering in our future life are bad habits.

Why are good habits important?

1. They form the foundation of success:

Success comes through developing consistent good habits. For example, studying every day, managing time effectively, and cultivating a positive mindset—these habits increase our inner strength and enhance discipline. As a result, we move towards a productive and fulfilling life. Performing these tasks regularly each day ensures our steady progress towards our goals.

2. Keeps the body healthy:

Good habits help us stay healthy and happy. For example, drinking a glass of water every morning, eating healthy food, and getting the necessary nutrients make our bodies strong. Regular exercise or walking makes us feel good both inside and out. Avoiding excessive fast food reduces the risk of getting sick.

3. Brings peace of mind:

Good habits help keep our minds calm and cheerful. Activities like taking deep breaths in the morning, reading or writing enjoyable stories, or playing with family and friends can reduce anxiety from our minds. Following a specific routine every day, getting enough sleep, and walking or exercising for a short time helps us feel calm and strong. Following these small good habits every day lightens our minds, reduces stress, and makes life more beautiful.

4. Improves relationships:

Some small positive actions in daily life gradually lead our lives towards improvement. These small actions help us focus our minds, increase self-confidence, and achieve our goals. These habits help us be happy and strengthen our relationships in life.

Why are bad habits harmful?

1. Wastes time:

Bad habits like playing games on mobile phones or computers waste our valuable time, hinder personal development, and distract us from our life goals. This slows down our journey towards success and makes life more difficult. Starting new, good habits also takes up a lot of time.

2. Harms health:

Regular smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and unhealthy eating habits negatively impact a person’s health. These activities contribute to various diseases. They weaken the body’s immune system and make the body vulnerable. A healthy lifestyle is crucial for staying healthy.

3. Creates mental stress:

Excessive use of mobile phones or an undisciplined lifestyle robs us of peace of mind and causes fatigue. These habits disrupt our concentration, interfere with normal sleep patterns, and amplify negative thoughts, which reduces mental energy. Following proper rules reduces mental stress.

4. Damages relationships:

Bad habits create distance and mistrust between people. For example, behaviours like lying, dishonesty, or not being able to dedicate time can hurt a partner. Anger, arrogance or a disorganised lifestyle reduces mutual respect, resulting in a decline in love and communication, leading to cracks in the relationship. Only awareness can sustain a healthy and beautiful relationship.

How to build good habits?

To build good habits, you first need to set small goals. For example, you can walk for 20 minutes every day, drink a glass of lukewarm water in the morning, read 10 pages of a book daily, or meditate for 10 minutes. Replace unhealthy foods with fruits. Instead of starting many habits at once, focus on one habit at a time. Choose a specific time each day to practise the habit and encourage yourself. If you fail at something, don’t get discouraged; just start again. Having positive people and a supportive environment makes building good habits much easier. With consistent effort and patience, the habit will become permanent.

How to break bad habits?

If someone uses their mobile phone for a long time, they can reduce that usage time by 10 minutes each day. Using those 10 minutes to start a habit like walking or reading a book will yield good results. If someone has a habit of waking up late, try using an alarm clock to wake up on time; this will save a lot of time. To break a bad habit, you must first identify the habit and understand why it’s happening; finding the cause will make finding a solution easier. Try to gradually reduce the amount of time spent on the habit. There’s no need to stop it completely all at once. Replace the bad habit with a positive one. Believe in yourself and keep trying consistently. Seek help from family or friends if needed.

Ten effective ways to build good habits:

1. Wake up or get out of bed at a specific time every day.

2. Meditate for at least twenty minutes every morning.

3. Develop the habit of walking for at least thirty minutes every day to keep your body healthy.

4. Cultivate the habit of reading books occasionally.

5. Set a specific time for using your mobile phone.

6. Write down your life goals in a notebook every day.

7. Regularly express gratitude to the Creator for everything.

8. Complete the tasks you are supposed to do each day on time.

9. Eat healthy food and provide your body with the necessary nutrients.

10. Honestly acknowledge your mistakes.

Ten examples of common bad habits:

1. Going to sleep very late at night.

2. Wasting excessive time on social media.

3. Eating unhealthy food.

4. Getting angry very easily.

5. Lying.

6. Procrastinating or not completing tasks on time.

7. Using addictive substances.

8. Spreading gossip or negative rumours about others.

9. Always thinking negatively about everything.

10. Keeping one’s life disorganised.

Conclusion:

Our good habits make life beautiful and healthy and lead us towards success. On the other hand, bad habits gradually bring various harms to our lives. Therefore, it is very important to regularly monitor our habits. Although developing good habits takes time, the results are long-lasting and very valuable. Conversely, giving up bad habits requires a lot of patience and willpower. If you want to change your life, you need to change your habits first, because our habits shape our future.